1) Right after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was ratified. What did the 14th Amendment provide for African Americans? What does “due process” and “equal protection of the laws” mean?14th LINK The 14th amendment gave them citizenship. It also should have prevented discrimination under the law. 2) Unfortunately, your equal rights were challenged by the Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. What do you remember about the facts, decision, and impact of this case?Plessy LINK A Louisiana law segregating trains was challenged in court because it violated the 14th amendment. The supreme court decided it was constitutional, as long as they were "separate but equal." 3) The laws developed in the South became known as Jim Crow laws. Who was this Jim Crow fellow? Did he write the laws? Jim Crow LINK Jim Crow was an old insult for African Americans, which originated with performers who made themselves look like blacks and then acted stupid. 4) What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you? Jim Crow Laws LINK 1 /Jim Crow Laws LINK 2 / Jim Crow Laws LINK 3 “It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.” —Birmingham, Alabama, 1930 “Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.” —Nebraska, 1911 “Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.” —Missouri, 1929 “All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.” —Tennessee, 1891 5) What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time? Jim Crow Images LINK 1/ Jim Crow Images LINK 2 There were colored waiting rooms, colored theaters, and even colored water coolers. 6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South?Scottsboro LINK 9 African American Boys got into a fight with some white boys on a train, and threw them off a train. They were arrested at the next stop, and then two white women were discovered hiding on the train. They had had sex with some white men while they were on the train, but they didn't want people to know that, so they agreed to testify against the black boys. They were accused of rape and they were convicted, but the supreme court overturned the verdict. 7) Why should anyone care about your lilfe during Jim Crow America? Why should I care? Link It represents a century of American History when not all Americans were truly free, and it shows the horrors of racism.
The 14th amendment gave them citizenship. It also should have prevented discrimination under the law.
2) Unfortunately, your equal rights were challenged by the Supreme Court in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. What do you remember about the facts, decision, and impact of this case? Plessy LINK
A Louisiana law segregating trains was challenged in court because it violated the 14th amendment. The supreme court decided it was constitutional, as long as they were "separate but equal."
3) The laws developed in the South became known as Jim Crow laws. Who was this Jim Crow fellow? Did he write the laws? Jim Crow LINK
Jim Crow was an old insult for African Americans, which originated with performers who made themselves look like blacks and then acted stupid.
4) What are some specific examples of the Jim Crow laws from southern states? How did the laws affect you? Jim Crow Laws LINK 1 /Jim Crow Laws LINK 2 / Jim Crow Laws LINK 3
“It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together or in company with each other in any game of cards or dice, dominoes or checkers.”
—Birmingham, Alabama, 1930
“Marriages are void when one party is a white person and the other is possessed of one-eighth or more negro, Japanese, or Chinese blood.”
—Nebraska, 1911
“Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any white child to attend a colored school.”
—Missouri, 1929
“All railroads carrying passengers in the state (other than street railroads) shall provide equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races, by providing two or more passenger cars for each passenger train, or by dividing the cars by a partition, so as to secure separate accommodations.”
—Tennessee, 1891
5) What did Jim Crow America look like in the 1900s? What are some images that can help explain the realities of the time? Jim Crow Images LINK 1 / Jim Crow Images LINK 2
There were colored waiting rooms, colored theaters, and even colored water coolers.
6) What happened in the Scottsboro Case? How did it make you feel as an African American in the South? Scottsboro LINK
9 African American Boys got into a fight with some white boys on a train, and threw them off a train. They were arrested at the next stop, and then two white women were discovered hiding on the train. They had had sex with some white men while they were on the train, but they didn't want people to know that, so they agreed to testify against the black boys. They were accused of rape and they were convicted, but the supreme court overturned the verdict.
7) Why should anyone care about your lilfe during Jim Crow America? Why should I care? Link
It represents a century of American History when not all Americans were truly free, and it shows the horrors of racism.